A Lutheran preacher in rural Texas examines the Christian faith and life in general.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

I Have No Freakin' Clue

For the last 10 years, I have wondered in my monthly newsletter article, “What is God Calling Us to Do and Be? For 10 years every month I’ve tried to answer that question. But I’m going to be bluntly honest now: I don’t have a clue anymore.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I do know there are certain ways we are supposed to act as people of God. I know there are certain things God expects out of His people. Any one of us can plainly read about these things by picking up a Bible, reading what Jesus says, reading what Paul writes in his letters, and browsing through all the other writings. There are plenty of things we are supposed to be doing. There are plenty of ways we are supposed to be acting.

But we don’t. We just don’t.

And it’s not that we just don’t. It’s also because we can’t. We cannot do all the things we are supposed to do. We cannot be the type of people God wants us to be. If we could, there would be no need for grace. There would be no need for the cross. There would have been no need for Jesus to come and reconcile the world unto God.

But, we need grace. We need the cross. We need Jesus. We are completely and totally dependent upon God for our salvation because we can’t go out and accomplish it by ourselves.

Which now makes things a little interesting. If we realize we are totally and completely reliant upon God for our salvation–what do we have to do? What do we have to be? Where is God calling us?

Who really knows the mind of God?

Then why did you spend so many years trying to answer the question, pastor?

Well, I thought I could. I thought I could grasp the answers. I was arrogant enough to think I could get it; I could understand it; I could brazenly give forth the answers. But I can’t. I realize that now. I have no freaking clue.

So where does that leave me? Where does that leave us?

Well, I won’t speak for you. I have to let you decide what that means in your own life and in the life of this congregation, but I know what it means for me now: simply trusting in God.

In many ways, I feel like Abram when God first called him (Genesis 12). God said, “Go to a land that I will show you. I will bless you so that you will be a blessing and the whole world will be blessed through you.”

Abram didn’t know where he would go. He had no idea what the future held. All he knew was God’s call. All he knew was God’s promise. He left all behind and trusted God. The future took many twists and turns, but we know that God kept His promise.

This is my last column under the heading “What is God Calling Us to Do and Be?” I have no idea anymore. I won’t pretend to know God’s plan. He doesn’t necessarily want us to. He wants us to trust in Him and be satisfied with that. Here’s to a mysterious future; a time of adventure; a time of being blessed to be a blessing.